Learn to make stone yield with local expert Jason Quigno
The artist will open his studio for an eight week carving workshop starting September 20. With a small class size and both tools and materials provided, this is a rare chance to study with a master.
Local sculptor Jason Quigno, LaFontsee Galleries-represented artist and ArtPrize Nine participant at Grand Valley State University, has decided to offer a sculpture workshop from his studio in Grand Rapids. If you have an interest in carving stone, this is a rare opportunity.
There are not many art centers or colleges that offer stone carving, and Quigno has been working exclusively in stone for almost 30 years. The artist is highly regarded for his work, which is included in collections throughout the United States, and he is regularly asked to participate in international sculpture symposia.
Quigno’s work can be loosely divided into two genres: nonobjective forms, and abstract sculpture of human or animal subjects. The latter are informed by his Anishinaabe heritage. His nonobjective works including gates, columns, modified boulders, and twisted möbius loops.
Participants at his summer workshop at the Saginaw Chippewa School in Mount Pleasant, Michigan decided to create the möbius ribbon, which is a signature form for Quigno. A little reluctant at first to accept an invitation to teach, Quigno decided to do it because he wanted to help the tribe and pass along his knowledge to a new generation of artists. He was surprised at how much he enjoyed the experience, and decided to teaching again, this time launching a workshop from his personal studio.
Quigno is a natural teacher: he’s patient, and always willing to talk to people about his working technique. He has had a number of student-apprentices through the years who assisted him in the studio in exchange for access to the facilities and the artist’s expertise.
His own career as a sculptor started at the Saginaw Chippewa School. He took a workshop with Dennis Christy, who had studied at The Institute of Native American Art in Santa Fe. The young Quigno was not particularly interested, but his mother thought he could use an outlet for his adolescent energy.
He was immediately taken with the medium, and was encouraged by early offers to purchase his work. Later, he apprenticed with Daniel Mena. Mena’s mentors were Allan Houser and Doug Hyde. Houser’s style merged modern sculptural forms (like those of Henry Moore or Barbara Hepworth) with Native American imagery in a manner that inspired a revival of sculpture at the INAA. Quigno says that he was inspired by both Christy’s precise carving technique and Mena’s ability to create compelling narratives through his forms.
After striking out on his own, he made strides in mastering the logistics of working on a large scale. One would think the appeal of large sculpture might be its permanence or historical precedent, but Quigno has more surprising reasons for his attraction to working large. He loves the material and the physical intensity of the process, he says.
Quigno admits he still marvels at the transformation from raw rock to finished product. Sometimes he starts with small rudimentary sketches, but for more complex projects he’ll make a maquette before making the final full-scale piece. But sometimes, he explains, the stone itself suggests an idea, which the artist need only release.
In addition to planning for the studio workshop, Quigno is one of five artists included in “Tomorrow’s Stories: Contemporary Native American Arts & Artists at Saugatuck Center for the Arts,” which runs from September 14-November 10. Admission to the exhibition and the reception is free and open to the public. His sculpture “Three Sisters,” comprised of fieldstone boulders, will be featured at the GVSU Pew Campus (301 Fulton St. SW) for ArtPrize 2017. He is represented locally by LaFontsee Galleries in Grand Rapids.
And in the middle of all this work, the chance to share what he’s learned over the years with others at his workshop, starting September 20.
The class size will be kept small, allowing everyone to have one-on-one assistance. The workshop is limited to eight people, and there are still spaces available. Participants will work with limestone and power tools, both supplied by the artist. Classes will meet for eight weeks, Monday and Wednesday from 4–8 p.m., September 20-October 27, in his studio on Godfrey Avenue on the southwest side of Grand Rapids.
Interested parties should contact Quigno directly via his studio Facebook page, Asinaabe Studios, or email him at jqstone@comcast.net.
